taxes

The cuts include a 13% reduction in last year’s already reduced budget for the Interior Department, which oversees the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management, among others.

The Montana Supreme Court dismissed Tuesday a petition from Gov. Greg Gianforte that it take control of a property tax lawsuit over Senate Bill 542.

Opponents of the much-debated 9.9% tax on households with incomes above $1 million a year are honing legal and electoral strategies to invalidate and repeal legislation.

Galt has proposed a constitutional initiative that would cap all property taxes at no more than 2% per year.

The bill is estimated to generate about $30 million for each two-year budget cycle and will supplement the roughly $120 million for the wildfire programs in each biennium.

The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services is projecting a budget shortfall of $34.4 million, staff told an interim budget committee this week.

Gov. Greg Gianforte is asking the Montana Supreme Court to take over a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a property tax bill passed by the 2025 Montana Legislature.

The measure is expected to bring in roughly $37 million per year by raising the state’s lodging tax from 1.5% to 2.75%.

Rental prices in Missoula continued to creep up in 2025 while developers also endured higher prices, including insurance and taxes, according to a new report.

Senate Democrats sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday demanding the administration refund businesses that paid tariffs to import goods into the United States.